The invention lies in the filed of medical diagnostic procedures and devices.
There is a need for obtaining small samples of human interstitial fluid from the skin for the purpose of analyzing this fluid for biologically relevant molecules and electrolytes that may be found therein. More particularly, there is a need for carrying out the process of releasing and collecting the interstitial fluid for glucose measurements which is useful for diabetics. The most common current techniques for obtaining body fluid for glucose measurements is done by pricking the skin with a sharp object to create a small drop of blood. This sample can then be collected and analyzed in a test kit to determine the glucose contents. The process of pricking the skin to produce fluid samples is obviously undesirable because of the pain it creates. It would be desirable to have a more painless method of collecting and releasing interstitial fluid for this and other purposes.
A method of making a carrier film is disclosed. A carrier film base member with spaced openings is supported on a flat support and loaded with meltable absorber substance from a digitally operated heated printhead of the type used for xe2x80x9cjettingxe2x80x9d materials, similar to an ink jet for a computer printer. Indexing of the carrier film strip or the printhead sequentially fills the openings with the absorber substance. A cover is preferably adhesively laminated over the openings containing the meltable absorber substance creating a well-like opening that has an open side from which the material will be ejected when activated by a suitable laser beam. Both the cover strip and adhesive are selected to allow the laser beam to be focused on the meltable absorber substance inside the openings. A cover strip may be made in a batch process or, for example, in a reel-to-reel continuous process using flexible film technology. The carrier material is preferably a laminated carrier film although it is conceivable that a blind opening could be produced in a film having the requisite clarity to passage of laser energy in the nature of a blind opening.